What exactly IS a "good Catholic?" I can't remember which of these items I stumbled onto first, but they all link to each other in helpful ways, so all I can say is "thanks" to each! If you're willing to follow the thread, first go here for Atrios' comments on, and the transcript of, a recent NPR report by Barbara Bradley Haggerty, which declares for some mystifying reason that John Kerry must convince voters he's a good Catholic. Then go over to Body and Soul for more on why these "good Catholic" challenges are so disturbing. Then go to No More Mister Nice Blog to see how selectively the "good Catholic" criterion is being applied: Democrat John Kerry will not be invited to a fundraising dinner that has been attended in the past few years by PRO CHOICE REPUBLICAN CATHOLICS Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki. I guess my question is: Does the Bush/Cheney machine really want to go down this road - comparing Christian credentials, implying hypocrisies? If so, we might at least have an entertaining sideshow for the next few months. I have fond recollections of a not-so-distant impeachment proceeding, preceded by a barrage of pre-emptive confessions of adulterous affairs by Robert Livingston, Henry Hyde, Helen Chenoweth... What a hoot that was. I'll make the popcorn.